Traces: The Path to Salvation
by Sanji Himura
Summary: The Final Fic of the Traces series: Shinji, on the way to Tokyo-3, is given a bible.  How would that bible impact his life at Third Impact and beyond?


That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:

And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

**Sanji Himura Presents**

Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.

**An Evangelion Fan Work in the Traces Series**

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

**The Path to Salvation**

They have suceeded. Third Impact had occurred under Shinji's direction. So far, only two people got out of the LCL mess that the rest of the world is stuck in, Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu. As the pair looked over the waves in the LCL ocean, Shinji reached inside one of his pockets for a pocket bible. The bible was given to him on the train ride from Kyoto-2 to Tokyo-3. He read it during the train ride, but he would get lost in certain books or chapters. Thankfully, the preacher that gave him that bible was heading to Tokyo-3 to build a church.

Shinji knew that Section 2 drove that man out of town a week after his conversion, but that did not stop him from gaining knowledge by other means. He ordered books online to, as the bible put it, study to shew thyself approved. The threat of Section 2 didn't matter to him. He was doing God's work.

Seeing another ruined bible, Shinji decided to get on his knees to pray, much to Asuka's annoyance. "Lord," Shinji began,"I know that I was not a faithful christian. I knew that this path that we were forced to take was not the one that you wanted us to take. Lord, if there is any forgiveness in your heart, please send us something that we may grow and prosper again. I know that we are supposed to subdue the Earth, but how can we if we are children ourselves. Lord please send us something for us. Amen."

Shinji got up from his prayer a better man. He promptly took off to where Tokyo-3 used to be with Asuka tailing him to a book store to pilfer another bible. Walking along the highway, Shinji decided to stop and gather some limbs. Taking some leather string, he formed three wooden crosses out of them and drove them into the ground.

"What are you doing that for, baka," Asuka had to ask.

"To honor those who had died," was Shinji's reply, "The first cross was for my preacher, the second was for my mother, and the last is for Misato."

Eventually, they found shelter in an old abandoned apartment building. Eventually, more and more people came from the LCL ocean to help "subdue the new Earth", as Shinji puts it. However, there is no sign of the fake angels again as Shinji began to teach God's real word to anyone who listens.

When Shinji eventually died Heaven gave him a welcome like all of his saints who comes home. I believe the Lord has said, "Shinji welcome home."

**Author's Notes and Ramblings**

- If you haven't figured it out by the story, the fic is done to Randy Travis's 'Three Wooden Crosses'. I believe God spoke to me through this song to write this through, and so I did. I would like to thank the Lord first and foremost for allowing this story to get published, because anyone has talent, but if they acknowledge that said talent comes from God, then their works are ten times better than what they would have been.

- The Bible verses are taken from Daniel Chapter 3, King James Version.

- The Traces Series will wrap up with overall statistics gathered over the five or so years that I have been writing them in the next chapter. See you next update.


End file.
